A Man Called Otto set to beat Girl with Dragon Tattoo at global B.O.

NOTE: This article is a republication- Source: Nordisk Film & TV Fond (by Annika Pham).

The Tom Hanks vehicle financed by the Scandinavian major SF Studios is expected to reach $120 million B.O. worldwide, before its Netflix launch, planned for May in the US.

The English-language remake of the Swedish film A Man Called Ove based on Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel, has now cleared a major B.O. milestone, by crossing $ 103.5 million, as of Tuesday.

The impressive numbers - broken down as $62.2 million in the US plus $41.2 million on the international - were released by SF Studios’ SVP International Fredrik Wikström Nicastro who produced the movie with US partners Rita Wilson, Playtone’s Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

The $50m film was fully-financed by Bonnier-owned SF Studios.

“The highest box office of a Swedish production so far has been The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo, which achieved $104,5 M, so we should pass that threshold any day this week, and end up with $110-120 million”, Wikström Nicastro told nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

Global territories - outside North America - where the film is performing particularly well via Sony Pictures Releasing, include the UK ($6.3m), Australia ($5.2m), Mexico ($5.1m), Germany ($3.1m) and Spain ($2.6m).

In Sweden, the film has crossed $1.77 million in cumulative gross B.O. since its January 13 release via SF Studios. Major territories still to open include Japan and South Korea.

“In a ‘normal’ world, before Covid, these figures would not have been so surprising, but they are now,” said Wikström Nicastro who underlines that A Man Called Otto brought “a lot of hope” to Sony Pictures who thought adult audiences were still reluctant to come to the movies post-Covid.

Some Oscar contenders under-performed in their opening weeks, according to Indiewire (see story here) but A Man Called Otto’s proved that for specific film offers, mature audiences do pay for a cinema ticket.

The film directed by Marc Forster is due to launch globally on Netflix in a couple of months, following a deal struck by Sony Pictures with the US streaming giant.